cardio or weights for weightloss?

I've been doing 40- 1hr of strong cardio 4 times a week.. i usually do the elliptical for 35 minutes and then run for another 15 mins or hike in the treadmill for 35 minutes and then to do the elliptical or the bike for another 15 or 20.. here's the problem.. even though i can now run w/o dying or looking like i'm about to pass out ( which is great) i have not lost anything.. not even 1 lb. i've been doing this for two weeks. i dont do weights b/c i abslutely hate them and if i try to make myself do them i will not go to the gym ( speaking from past experience) i love to run and i love the elliptical and i've even started doing 30 sit ups and other ab-exercises... my question is.. can i still lose weight w/o doing weights?? if so then how come i haven't lost anything so far? please help.. i've been so energized and excited abt the gym lately and i dont want to stop b/c im so discouraged since i'm not losing any weight. has anyone gone through anythin similar?? ah and also i always eat up to 1400-1450 cals... but i mean i burn at least 500 cals at the gym..

you need to give it some time! it has only been two weeks! normally a body doesn't start to change until the fourth or fifth week. as long as you stick to it watch what you eat your metabolism will speed up and your body will start to lean out.

you didn't mention how much you weight so i am not sure if you are getting enough calories, when you don't eat enough your metabolism will slow down even more so you will actually put on weight. so watch the calories that is more important than anything else.

i know you don't like weights but if you don't do any you will lose the weight but will be mushy or soft so you won't weight a lot but you won't be firm either.

You aren't eating enough at all.

You consume 1400 calories but burn 500 at the gym so you've only netted 900 for the day.

A womans body needs AT MINIMUM

1200 calories + what you burn exercising + a couple hundred more if you are on your feet most of the day

Men need 1500 calories + calories burned exercising + more for being on their feet.


So you aren't eating enough,

so the weight isn't coming off.


Also you need to drink plenty of water to help see the weightloss and take days off from cardio.   I may have missed where you said how many days a week you do this routine but you should only do high cardio every other day so your legs can recover.   I would also aim for upping the intensity if your heart rate isn't getting elevated or dropping the machines from your routine that aren't getting the job done in raising your heart rate.

Heart rate is a big huge part of exercise.

well i weigh 146 lbs and i'm 5'4 and 21 yrs old. my heart rate during cardio is usually between 150-180( if i'm running v. fast).. so i think that's the 80% heart rate that they rcmnd on the machines.. maybe 90% at times lol

OK, IM REALLY CONFUSED ABOUT ALL THIS STUFF!!!  I WORKOUT AT THE GYM FROM 5:30AM TILL 6:30AM 5 DAYS A WEEK.  THIS IS MY 4TH WK.  I HAVENT LOST ANY. (WELL MAYBE 2LBS)  WE DO PILATES ON MON AND FRI AND TUES, WED, AND THURS WE DO ALOT OF CARDIO AND WEIGHTS.  I DONT KEEP TRACK OF MY CALORIES BUT I KNOW I LIMIT THEM EXTREMLY EVERYDAY.  (I EAT AT EVERY MEAL BUT EAT MAYBE 2-3 HUNDRED CAL PER MEAL,(MAYBE).  SO IM SUPPOSED TO EAT MORE TO LOSE WEIGHT???  VERY CONFUSED.... (IM 33 AND WEIGH 154 AND 5'7)

I'm a bit in the dark as well...I've been running consistently for years and am now trying to take off some winter weight (5lbs) by paying more attention to my expenditure/intake.   I've made some progress, running 5- 6 miles/day 5 to 6 days/week, but now I seem to have leveled off and have been stuck at 114-116 for weeks.  Maybe it's the summer heat, but I think I burn about 700 calories from my runs and a bit more from some weight training, but I can't seem to eat more than 1200 calories a day, I'm just not that hungry.  Could this be why I've stopped losing and how does one fix this????

when it comes to food it is always hard to understand that to lose weight you have to eat a certain amount of food. When you don't eat a minimal amount of food your metabolism will slow down to keep from starving to death, so then you will gain fat. That's why we eat 5-6 meals per day to keep your metabolism primed and working to digest food and to keep it running at a higher than normal level. So you need to find how much you should eat to keep your weight lose on track, if you don't eat enough or readjust your intake on a consistent basis you will plateau. That's why zig zagging your calorie intake works so well.

Doubletroube - could be you are at a healthy weight to begin with.  I am 5'6" and 155 is my high end healthy weight and I would kill to get back to that. 

Maybe do some weights to tone up and that will slenderize the body.

THANKS ALOT, I JUST REALLY GET CONFUSED ABOUT THE DIFFERENT WAYS TO LOSE. BUT I REALLY THINK I WOULD LIKE TO GET TO 145 AND REALLY TONE UP MY BODY. I WOULD BE PRETTY HAPPY!

I gave up on weighing myself. I've been excersizing religiously for over three months and watching what I eat.  So far, I've lost four pounds.  However, I also started measuring myself and that is where I have seen real progress.  Don't rely on the scale to tell you how you are doing.  You could be gaining muscle and reducing fat.

people worry too much about the weight number they see on the scale, and not about the body fat, or how they look in general.

In order to lose fat, you are going to want to add resistance training to build lean muscle. This also requires getting a good amount of protein in the diet.

you'll see fat women on the treadmills at the gym and they will be fat forever. They don't eat enough calories, or protein for that matter, and they don't have any muscle. The weight they lose at first is water weight, and they lose muscle.

So basically they become a smaller fat person. If they were to just add a circuit resitance training along with their cardio, they would see much better results.

i see women at my gym all the time who do the same routine. They go on the treadmill for hours at a time, and then when they get off, they go and do some crunches and then go home.

they would be much better served if they cut their time on the treadmill to just a warmup, and went straight from there into a circuit training working out all the muscle groups combining resistance traiining with cardio training and then maybe back on the treadmill if they want to burn a few more calories. then when they got home, eat a meal rich in protein and potassium to both reenergize and rebuild the muscle.

the workout would take 15-20 minutes tops, and it will work.

just find machines that work different muscle groups. you don't have to use freeweights. you don't have to use a lot of weight

move from one machine to the next, alternating muscle groups (i.e. don't do two chest excercises in a row) and use minimal rest (if any) in between. This circuit will exhaust you at first, and make you sore the next few days, but it will tone and build muscle depending on how many reps you do.

If you don't have a lot of muscle mass, I would start out light the first week. lightweight, 20 reps per machine. Then the next week try raising the weight and doing maybe 8 reps a machine. Use weight that makes you struggle to get that last rep up. this will take some experimenting.

don't worry about getting too muscular, if you use high reps light weight, you will just tone that flab, and be much stronger and in shape. you'll have more energy, and will naturally burn more calories while you rest. 

get a friend to do it with you. if you don't have a gym membership, there are plenty of excercises you can do at home with a little dumbell. good luck.  

I think people over do the cardio. Mix in strength/resistance training and not only will you burn calories while working out, you will burn calories for the next 48hrs healing those muscles!

People may "watch their calories", but I still suggest writing down everything you eat...be honest.  I list al the beer I drink in my spreadsheet.  I also list all the times my food is consumed to make sure my blood sugar doesn't drop and tell my body to start storing food. 

Keep a constant routine or scheduel.

Body Fat % is the best way to determine progess.  Throw the wieght scales away!